Death at the Summit (9 page)

Mary tried to suppress a giggle. “You are enjoying this a bit too much.”

I tried to stop laughing. “Sorry, you’re right. See anything new?”

She pointed to the background on the screen, where Mac was arguing with a thin man. “That’s Bucky. He’s one of suspects.”

“Oh, ya, I saw him fighting with Mac when the fight first occurred. He’s one of the suspects? Interesting.”

I rewound until I found the point where Mac and Bucky started interacting. Mac said something with a smug smile. Bucky’s face was tense and angry. They went back for forth until the fight was broken up. The whole time, Mac smirked while Bucky’s face got redder and angrier.

“We need to see if we can get Bucky to tell us what they fought about.” I closed the video player and clicked the other video on the card. The camera appeared to be sitting on a desk or table and was pointed at a bed in an otherwise-empty room. A man’s voice was talking, and then he looked into the camera. It was Cold, and he was on the phone.

“Don’t ever put that in writing again. No e-mail, no texts, nothing.”

He walked around the room as he listened to the phone.

“Ya, I can get it. Just remember, if this gets into food, it would kill someone, and if it was spicy or flavorful, they would never taste it. So I am saying not to do that. You’re such an idiot, I swear. Okay. Bye.”

A few seconds later, the video ended.

“What was that about?” Mary asked.

I shook my head and we watched the short clip three more times. We leaned in close to the screen, straining to hear more details, but nothing more revealed itself.

A chill crept over me. “Do you want to watch again?” Mary shook her head, and I popped the memory card out and put it on my desk. “That was ominous. Do you think he was getting poison for someone? Or convincing someone not to poison someone? Why did he film that? Is this connected to Mac’s murder or something different?” I had so many questions that were unanswerable.

“I don’t know, but this doesn’t add up. Could Mac could have been poisoned?”

I dropped the sweat shirt I had removed from Moo under the desk then opened his drawer to pull out a different Christmas vest. Moo shoved his head between us and nuzzled the drawer, which also held treats. I grabbed the container of treats and gave him one. Then I wrestled the vest onto him. It was green-and-red plaid with a Christmas tree on his back. “I don’t think so. Is there a poison that would make you bleed a bunch? We need to give this to Brian right away.”

Moo bumped the container hard with his nose, and treats spilled over the desk. He was right on top of them, but before I could do more than yell out his name, Moo had picked the desk clean of every treat.

Mary leaped from her chair. “No, no, no, Moo!”

“What’s wrong?”

“The memory card is gone.”

I grabbed Moo and lifted his right jowl then the left one then pried his mouth open. Nothing was inside but massive teeth and his tongue. “Maybe he just knocked it on the floor.” I crawled onto the floor to check.

Mary flopped into the chair. “No, I saw it disappear into this mouth. What do we tell Brian?”

“Nothing, we say nothing. If anyone asks, we flushed it down the toilet hours ago. That video was too weird. Don’t tell anyone—that includes Minx and Tiger.”

“Why not just tell the truth that Moo ate the card?”

“Do you think anyone would believe the dog ate the evidence? That sounds an awful lot like ‘the dog ate my homework.’ Let’s just say that right after he gave me the card, I flushed it without looking at it.”

Mary nodded. “Okay, that works. Something about that video was really off.”

Chills crept up my arms, and I rubbed them, hoping to knock the feeling away.

CHAPTER NINE

Walking down the hall, I kept an eye on Moo, watching him for choking or intestinal discomfort. I had looked around on the web, and Great Danes had been known to have eaten much larger things with no harm, but that didn’t mean I felt good about it.

Mary sidled up to me, whispering so her voice wouldn’t carry, list of suspects in hand. “Wanna talk to Bucky next? Maybe we can see what he and Mac were fighting about.”

“I’m gonna try a bluff. Just go along with me.”

Mary rolled her eyes at me. “I think I know how to investigate a murder. Geez, this isn’t my first time.”

“Two murders, and now we’re experts, eh?” I chucked.

Heading toward the dining area, we spotted Bucky alone. Sneaking Moo in, we headed over to Bucky.

“Hi, Bucky, right?” I extended my hand. “I’m Di, and this is Mary. We work here at the Westmound Center. Is there anything I can get you?”

He stood to shake my hand then introduced himself to Mary before sitting back down and shaking his head.

“Do you mind if we sit? We heard about the fight you had with Mac and thought you might want to…” I purposely trailed off then sat quietly, looking at him. I was hoping that he would feel compelled to defend himself.

Bucky’s mouth pursed up, his cheeks puffed out, then he blew out a hard breath. “You have to understand, I am thrilled to work for Westmound. Elizabeth and the whole company have been great. My issue is not with them.”

Mary and I both nodded while I said, “Of course, understandable,” in what I hoped was a great impression of understanding.

He looked between Mary and me as we nodded, then he continued. “That being said, I will never forgive Mac for what he did. That is not what this industry is about. Cheating, deception, and cutthroat practices have no place here. We are about honesty, family, and community.”

I nodded while frantically trying to figure out how to get him to explain without breaking our bluff. “Do you want to tell us, in your words, what happened?”

His face was red, and the muscles in his jaw flexed. He stared intently at the table until, in a rush, he started talking. “Remember when the bowhunter division rules were changed suddenly eight years ago?”

I didn’t know what the bowhunter division meant beyond the fact that in tournaments, a “division” meant a class in competition that was defined by what equipment was used in the tournament. I certainly didn’t know about rule changes.

Mary took over. “Yes, though the details are a bit fuzzy right now.”

He swung around to her, raking a hand through his hair, then undid the top button on his shirt, which had been straining again his throat. “Most of my sales were from archers competing in the bowhunter division. We had a brand-new line coming out that met the current rules at great expense to the company. Then suddenly, two months before the competition season, the rules committee announced a change to rules regarding sights in the bowhunter division. Suddenly, my entire line of products was not allowed. But guess what company had just launched several new lines of sights that just happened to meet the new rules?”

“MacSights,” Mary and I said in unison.

“Yep, you got it. It was too close to the season to get out any new products, and our sales essentially went to zero overnight. There was no way to recover. Rather than firing my employees, I sold to Westmound. I don’t regret that choice, but I regret having to make the choice at all. Mac deserved all that he got and more. If life was fair, he would have been forced to sell his company to Westmound, but instead, he got to decide when and how to sell his company.”

“So you think he had some hand in changing the rules?” I needed to make sure I understood rather than just assuming.

He slammed his palm down hard on the table, making both Mary and me jump. “Of course! Don’t be naïve. He bribed or blackmailed them. I heard the three members of the committee went hunting with Mac for years. I think a couple of the members resigned shortly afterward. I wasn’t the only company that was upset about the rule changes but I was affected the most. We rallied and protested. The rule was eventually modified, but by then, all the archers had bought new equipment from MacSights, and I was in the hole so far that I could never crawl out.”

Mary shook her head. “That’s not right.”

“No, it’s
not
right. People shouldn’t be able to win when they are cheaters. And I told him as much today. He just laughed at me. It took everything in me not to punch him.” His voice was rising with each sentence. Suddenly, he leaned forward, imploring us. “You have to convince Elizabeth to clean house at MacSights. The whole family is corrupt. I know that M.C. was part of that rules situation. He is a cheat through and through. And Kandi is trouble, cold and calculating. I’m surprised she didn’t knife Mac in his sleep. She only married him for the money. They’re going to ruin Westmound if they stay. Poison, both of them.” He was heaving huge breaths.

Moo whined next to me and huddled in close. I wrapped an arm around Moo’s frame and rubbed his side. Bucky’s intensity was unsettling. “I’ll mention it to Liam.”

Bucky sat back in his seat, relaxed. His face was no longer red, and he casually crossed a leg onto the opposite knee. “Thank you. Liam’s a good guy. I can’t say how grateful I am that Mac is dead. I think I will throw a party when I get home.” He cupped his hands around a cup of coffee and smiled.

I stood up. “That sounds nice.” No, it didn’t. It sounded insane. “If you need anything, let us know.”

Mary mirrored my actions, and we practically ran out of the cafeteria and smacked right into M.C.

He snorted. “What are you gals running from?” He looked over our shoulders. “Oh, Bucky, paranoid old goat. He’s such a weirdo. Business is business, but he’s a stick in the mud. I’m bored. Will you entertain me for a bit?” He had a broad smile and friendly nature.

“Sure, we have a few minutes.” And a few questions. After we followed him back into the dining room, he pulled out chairs for Mary and me. On the far side of the room, Loggin gave us a quick glance before he looked away.

I remembered Mac was M.C.’s father. “How are you holding up, M.C.?”

He waved a hand in the air. “I think I’m in shock but also not surprised. Dad was an aggressive man. You live by the sword; you die by the sword. That’s how life is meant to be. Too many pansies around, unwilling and unable to do what needs to be done for success. Those that were weak resented Dad. Like Bucky—every time we ran into him he was like, ‘Wah wah you ruined my life. Boo hoo!’ What a sap.”

I had thought the conversation with Bucky was awkward, but this was taking it to a new level. Mary shifted in her seat next to me then poked me in the side.

“You think he killed your dad?”

“Could be. Or Kandi. Or Cold. Or Loggin. Or Orion. Or Minx. Or heck, maybe one of you. The list is endless.” He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet on the table to reveal turquoise cowboy boots.

“But not you?” The question popped out. I held my breath—I had just accused M.C. of killing his father. How heartless was I?

He took it all in stride. “Why would I kill my father? I loved him and had nothing to gain. Dad was no idiot. Kandi’s hot, but she’s not trustworthy. He gave me my inheritance before the wedding. The company was doing well, and we both got enough from our salary. You’re admiring my boots, aren’t you?”

The boots were distracting. They weren’t exactly good looking, but they were hard to look away from.

“I got them in Spain last year. They were handcrafted by a man that had the secrets of leatherworking passed down to him through five generations. The leather is artisan tanned then formed with hand tools. The whole process took months, and the final step was to form them specifically to my feet. I shouldn’t tell you how much they cost, but if you promise not to tell, they were fourteen thousand dollars. I am thinking of getting a second set.”

I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know boots could cost that much and couldn’t imagine ever having enough money to justify that kind of price tag. “Wow. That is…… wow.”

“Nice, huh? Not everyone can appreciate the finer things in life, but when you have good taste, you see things others don’t.” He admired his boots some more.

Mary seemed mesmerized by the boots. I saw her mouth, “Fourteen thousand,” a few times then tentatively reach out to pet one.

M.C. smiled widely. “Go on, touch one. They feel like butter, don’t they?”

She stroked the toe of the boot a few times then ran a finger over the embroidery along the side. “Wow.”

Taking her hand back, she looked at him. I elbowed her in the side. She shook her head and pulled herself out of her trance.

“Nice boots,” I said. “Uh, what does M.C. stand for? I have always wondered.”

“I’m named after my dad. He’s MacIntosh Davis, and I’m MacIntosh Davis II. When I was born, people started calling him Big Mac and me Little Mac. Obviously. I didn’t want to go by Little Mac forever so I switched to M.C. around fifteen and people dropped the ‘Big’ from his nickname.”

“Do you know why someone would kill your dad?” I tried to bring the conversation back around.

“He made some nasty remarks to Orion. I told you about Bucky. I’m pretty sure Kandi was fooling around. Minx was still mad about that time she tried to seduce Dad and Kandi busted her. Loggin was pissed that his sponsorship deal fell through and kept threatening us. Who knows? People are jealous of success, and Dad was definitely successful.” He looked over our shoulder, sat up, and stomped his boots onto the floor. “Looks like it’s my turn to talk to the police.”